s of rubbish, including unused
vehicles and machinery, had been stored away, and so wedged and
packed was it that it would have taken hours to uncover man or
beast seeking concealment there.

"One of the curious features of the situation was that the
building was in sight of none of the roads in the neighborhood,
while less than a hundred feet from it was a strip of woods in
which the removal of the larger trees had stimulated a sturdy and
densely matted undergrowth that was penetrable only by means of
paths that had been made by the cattle. It was what was called a
'woods pasture.' With this cover for his movements any one could
approach or leave the old barn with little danger of discovery.

"Naturally enough, such a ramshackle was in ill-repute. There were
tales about it in the neighborhood. Some children had gone there
to play on one occasion, and had been badly frightened by a
big--as big as a half-bushel, they asserted--black face that was
seen to be watching them. They fled from the premises in great
alarm, and for a time there was talk of an investigation by their
friends. The incident, however, was soon forgotten.

"That old barn was a regular station on one of the underground
railroads that extended from the Ohio River to Canada. To but few
persons was its true character known, and they were very
close-mouthed about it. I was one of the few that were in the
secret. Being the youngest member of the family, it fell to my lot
to drive the horses and cows to and from the pasture in which the
old barrack was located, and while there it was an easy matter to
visit that establishment and ascertain if it sheltered any fresh
arrivals.

"One day I had to report that two fugitives were in the barn,
being a mother and child. Then came the question--which in that
instance was a difficult one to answer--as to who should convey
them to the next station on the line, twenty miles away. A
brother, between five and six years older than I was, and who was
something of a dare-devil, did the most of the work of
transportation, but he was in bed with typhoid fever. A hired man,
who was employed partly because he was in hearty accord with the
humanitarian views of the household, and who on several occasions
had taken my brother's place, was absent. There was nobody but
myself who was ready to undertake the job, and I was only eleven
years old. There w